


Ask Me No Questions (I'll Tell You Lies)

by chicafrom3



Category: Black Donnellys
Genre: Backstory, Character Study, Gen, Insecurity, Unreliable Narrator, lying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-03-16
Updated: 2007-03-16
Packaged: 2017-10-18 03:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/184445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicafrom3/pseuds/chicafrom3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>I always wanted brothers like that.</i> Joey Ice Cream in five hundred words.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ask Me No Questions (I'll Tell You Lies)

If you ask him, Joey will lie.

That's not surprising. Tell the truth (and isn't that a paradox): Joey lies about most things. Where he was that night. Who he knows ( ~~more~~ important: who knows him). Whys.

Joey will tell you that really, he doesn't know that much about it.

Anyone from the old neighborhood could tell you that's a lie. Joey is everywhere (/everywhen/everywhy); everyone knows Joey Ice Cream worshiped the ground the Donnellys walked on: wanted to be ~~accepted by~~ one of them.

If you ask him, Joey will tell you that he and the brothers Donnelly were like _this_. They never took a step without him.

That's a lie.

 ~~Maybe~~ Jimmy and Tommy and Kevin and Sean put up with him. Sometimes ~~maybe~~ they even actively seek his company. For the same reasons everyone in the neighborhood does: 'cause he's Joey Ice Cream (god i remember when he was a kid, little thief, little punk, can't believe he's in prison); 'cause he knows everybody who's nobody and everything that might be going on (how did he find out about that? i thought--never mind); 'cause Joey Ice Cream worshiped the ground the Donnellys walked on, and if one of them even suggested he could help, he was in (i always wanted brothers like that). Doesn't mean they like him.

Doesn't mean they _dis_ like him either. He's Joey, that's all.

If you ask him, Joey will tell you Jenny Reilly was the fifth Donnelly brother: he was the sixth.

Another lie.

Kevin ~~might've~~ liked him. They were the same age, they'd grown up together, after all, and Joey was always willing to lend a couple (hundred) for a hot bet. Yeah, ~~maybe~~ Kevin Donnelly liked him.

 ~~Maybe~~ Tommy did too. Who knows? ~~Maybe~~ Jimmy had a soft spot for his barfly (never paying for drinks if he wasn't forced). ~~Maybe~~ Seanie got a smile out of Joey's luck with women (so different from his own).

But the thing about Joey is he's always been an afterthought. Even (especially) when they were kids, Joey was never the one you thought of first (/second/third/fourth). Jenny Reilly got in the middle of everything, all enthusiasm and courage, and Joey Ice Cream sat on the sidelines and watched (and wished).

If you ask him, Joey will tell you that he doesn't know why he's telling you this: why he's spilling the story of Tommy Donnelly and his brothers, blood and guts and tears and all (sure it's not the story the cops want). It's not that he's scared for his life if he doesn't ~~more like he's scared for his life if he does~~ and it's not that he wants special treatment for snitching and it's not even that he likes the attention (but damn he likes the attention). He will tell you that the truth is he doesn't know why he's telling you any of this, except it needs to be told.

 ~~It's the first honest thing he'll say to you.~~


End file.
